Gold, Silver Down on Economic Weakness

Eurozone credit worries about Spain added to the slide

Gold and silver were moving lower Tuesday morning amid signs of weakness in the U.S. and China economies and another flare-up of eurozone credit worries, this time with regard to the Spanish government’s ability to deliver on proposed austerity measures. U.S. Treasury bonds and the dollar were both higher.

Spot gold was slightly lower, down 0.09% as of 12:00 noon, having traded as high as $1,651.30 and as low as $1,630.80 an ounce, according to Kitco market data. The London afternoon reference price was set at $1,644, $13 an ounce higher than Monday’s afternoon reference price.

Spot silver was showing a 1.29% loss, bid at $31.05, with an ask price of $32.10. The morning high as of time of writing was $32.10 and the low was $31.05. Tuesday’s reference price was set at $31.55 in the London a.m., 28 cents an ounce higher than Monday’s price fix.

ICSC-Goldman’s year-on-year, weekly index of same-store retail sales rose 0.5% week-to-week last week, the second week straight, and 4.5% year-over-year as this year’s early Easter had shoppers out earlier.

European Union investor confidence as measured by Sentix dropped for the first time in four months in April, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek report. The Sentix index of EU investor sentiment fell to -14.7 from -8.2 in March.

Spain’s government reiterated its commitment to additional budget cuts as yields on Spanish government debt securities have risen to their highest levels since December.

German exports rose unexpectedly in February for the second consecutive month, fueled by demand from outside Europe. German exports rose 1.6% APR from January. Economists had forecast a 1.2% drop.

Gold bullion prices drifted lower, to $1,642 an ounce, in London morning trading Tuesday, slightly higher than last week’s close, BullionVault reported in its London Gold Market report.

The market reference price for gold bullion remains below its 200-day moving average of $,1687 per ounce following the last fix before the Easter break on Thursday, BullionVault noted. “Major support [for gold] comes from the long-term uptrend, which is still intact, currently around $1,600,” according to the latest technical analysis note from bullion bank Scotia Mocatta.

Gold and silver trusts were lower on U.S. stock exchanges Monday morning.

The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was down around 0.11%.
The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was down around 0.13%.
The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was down around 0.65%.

Gold mining ETFs were also moving to the downside.

The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was showing losses of around 0.73%.
The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was showing losses of around 0.8%.
The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was moving up and down around 1.7%.

Gold mining shares were broadly higher, though Newmont Mining and NovaGold Resources were both showing gains.

Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was showing losses of more than 0.9%.Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was down around 0.2%.Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was more than 2% lower.Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was moving between small gains and losses.Kinross Gold Corp. USA (NYSE:KGC) was down around 1.2%.Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was up some 0.5%.NovaGold Resources (NYSEAMEX:NG) was up nearly 1.1%.Yamana Gold (USA) (NYSE:AUY) was down some 0.8%.

Silver mining shares were heading south as well.

Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was showing losses of almost 3%.Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was down almost 1%.Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was showing losses of around 0.7%.Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was down more than 2.2%.Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was down around 2.25%.

As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of BullionVault contributed to this report.